SPRINGFIELD, OH - The Wittenberg men's and women's tennis teams kicked off their 2024-25 seasons with home matches against Cedarville University. The Tiger women fell 7-0 on Wednesday, and the Tiger men lost by the same score on Thursday.

The matches are the lone head-to-head competitions scheduled for the fall portion of the 2024-25 season for either team. Both teams will also take part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Championships, and the men are also slated to participate in a tournament hosted by Transylvania.

In the women's match, Wittenberg fielded a five-player roster, making third doubles and sixth singles forfeits. The best showing for the team was provided by senior Caroline Sproule (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy Orange) at first singles. She won the first set 6-4 before dropping the second set and the supertiebreaker that determined the match result.

"A lot has changed and happened with this team, and these five ladies fought and played their best!" said Coach John DeVito '23. "We have a lot to learn from moving forward."

The next night, the same two schools tangled, only this time it was the men's teams. In a spirited competition, Wittenberg dropped the doubles point. Ethan Libby (Loveland, OH / Loveland) and Kyle Fout (Gahanna, OH / Gahanna Lincoln) lost 6-4 at Court 1, Jacob Bennett (Pickerington, OH / Pickerington Central) and Samuel Garay (Oakwood, OH / Oakwood) lost 6-3 at Court 2, and Justin Hardie (Centerville, OH / Centerville) and Benjamin Glassman (Woodbridge, CT / Amity Regional) lost 7-5 at Court 3.

The most competitve singles match came on the third court. Fout won the first set 7-5 but lost the second set 6-3 and then the decisive supertiebreaker.

"For this first match, I'm very proud of how the gentlemen played on all nine courts," DeVito said. "It will be awesome to see lots of improvement this weekend at Transylvania."